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A journey through innovation: Lessons from Geminus Group as the Preston firm trades with the world

Posted on - 28th January, 2025 - 8:00am | Author - | Posted in - Business, Fylde News, Preston News
Richard Harrison (second from right) and Nick Roach (far right) are the co-directors of Geminus Group

“Innovation is a hard sell. It’s not a tangible thing you can feel.” reflects Richard Harrison as he approaches his ninth year of trading in his business.

Geminus Innovation Limited is most likely not a firm you will ever have heard of, but with their roots firmly in and around Preston, the portfolio company is becoming an established seven-figures revenue company.

But it’s not from trading in Preston or Lancashire which has accelerated what Richard and his business partner Nick Roach have achieved.

Read more: Meeting the Amazon powerhouse nestled near Garstang

Formed in 2016 the pair have years of business advisory support experience and innovation experience to draw upon – and are now seeing an outline for how growth would go, discussed with Boost; Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub in 2018, that appears to be coming to pass as they look to define their group of brands.

Richard, now 51, came to Preston when he was working for BAE Systems in its ‘Future Concepts’ team.

He said: “I’ve always had my head in the clouds. I’m the ideas man, while Nick is the one who makes sure everything happens.

“I think that’s why it works as a partnership because we’ve got those different approaches but it fuses together well.”

Initially starting out mainly in business support, the Geminus Group quickly began to focus in during 2019 on the international market.

Richard said: “The UK is a place people want to come to and start businesses, it always has been and it always will be.

“What most people don’t realise is to get a Visa to start a business here, it has to meet has very strict criteria.

“It’s not like getting a Visa to work, to come over as an entrepreneur, you’ve got to show you’ve got an innovative, viable and scalable business, and you’ve got to then hit those targets – be that revenue, job creation, or more.”

Geminus, through their Innovator International brand, were one of 65 approved accreditors picked by the Home Office in 2019 to validate and stress-test business plans.

Richard said: “That’s when our business really started to grow, because we were receiving applications from South Asia, Far East and beyond for these driven entrepreneurs who wanted to come to the UK and better themselves, their families and they could see new ways of doing things.

“Our job is to act as gatekeepers and then support their journeys in the UK. I think we must now have read more than 5,000 business plans – so we have a good idea if something is going to work, or not.”

Richard and Nick at an event in Delhi

The team across Geminus is small, with a core staff of six operating across its four brands – which is developing to include YAW UK (a business network for overseas organisations wanting to trade in the UK), Innovator Pulse (a community for international entrepreneurs) and Neuxs (a programme helping international students and graduate entrepreneurs).

Lancashire and the talent available to Richard has been the backbone of being able to grow the business as they’ve seen demand increase.

He said: “We have about ten or so associates who we work with and predominantly we utilise Preston and Lancashire talent to help us deliver.

“I think that’s one of the fantastic things about the area – we have so many talented people and also lots of people who are happy to signpost you to good people and good ways of doing things.

“Automation has been a crucial part of us being able to grow rapidly since the point when in 2022 we became one of only three approved accreditors for the business set up visa.

“Traditionally we’d have needed to take on lots of staff, but we were able to work with smart people in Lancashire to automate our systems and tools and it meant although we needed to grow we were able to deal with the acceleration of work.”

An International Innovators event at The Shard in London

The firm has been leaning into events in recent years, post-Covid looking at ways they can bring their rapidly growing community of entrepreneurs together.

Richard said: “People who started businesses, they think differently.

“We wanted to give them the opportunity when they pitch to do it in style.

“So we’ve taken them to the top of The Shard, we’ve hired out the Dragons Den venue, and the reaction is just phenomenal.

“More than anything it’s fantastic to see these people, all driven and wanting to help drive the UK economically, getting on, connecting and helping each other.”

As the group looks to the future, Richard says there are parallels to where they are now in early 2025 with lessons they were taking in 2018.

The firm has received support from Boost; Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub repeatedly on its business growth journey including through Boost’s Business Advice Service as well as targeted programmes to provide mentoring and other support to Richard and the team.

Richard points in particular to the mentoring and advice received in 2018 from marketing expert Peter Dickinson, who was working on behalf of Boost at the time, as key to its growth journey.

Richard said: “That was a period where we were grappling with trying to hone in on what we were doing as a business.

“We had a few different services and Peter Dickinson helped us understand how to present this in a clear way to our different client sets.

“We also worked through with Peter about really creating a clear identity for the different parts of the business. Rather than having one thing, Geminus, we started to build out the different business streams.

“I think now, in 2025, we’re at that point where it’s come round and what Peter worked through with us back then has come to pass.

“When the international opportunities came along. We were looking at competitors who were either sector or geography specific, and we thought why does it need to be? And that became our thing, we were able to work and trade anywhere.”

Richard, who lives in Wrea Green with his wife and eight-year-old twins, says they in part were inspiration for the name of the firm.

He said: “I remember we spent ages trying to work out what to call it, because we were selling innovation, business support, business ideas, and so it needed a name

“My wife said make it something that means something to you, and our twins had recently been born, and that links to Gemini, and so it became Geminus.”

The allure of relocating the business has come up a number of times in recent years, but Richard and Nick ruled it out.

He said: “For a start, our families are settled here and you can’t put a price on that.

“Secondly, I just think Lancashire is a fantastic place to be based. We did toy with Manchester, as the business support network is so advanced there, and we have great relationships across both counties – it’s still an opportunity for expansion.

“But Lancashire has its own identity, so much talent and for me its that network of brilliant people who have helped us to grow over the years which are an anchor to continuing to being based here.

“But I do think businesses in the city, and the county, need to think about how they trade out. Because there’s a whole world, of opportunity, out there and we have the skills, the people and more in Lancashire to take our businesses out beyond the borders of the county.”

About Boost

Led by Lancashire County Council, supported by Government and ten local authorities, Boost is Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub, one of 37 Growth Hubs in the UK. Since 2013, Boost has supported over 14,000 businesses.

From September 1 2023, Boost is funded by Lancashire County Council, Department for Business & Trade (DBT), and UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) allocations from ten Lancashire local authorities.

Boost’s local authority partners are Blackburn with Darwen Council, Burnley Council, Chorley Council, Fylde Council, Hyndburn Borough Council, Pendle Borough Council, Preston City Council, South Ribble Borough Council, West Lancashire Borough Council and Wyre Council.

Boost offers six core services including: Business Support Helpdesk, Business Advice Service: Growth Catalyst, Scale to Thrive, Flying Start, Access to Finance. The Business Support Helpdesk offers advice and guidance to anyone thinking of starting a business and all new and existing businesses in Lancashire. Businesses located in the ten Boost local authority partner areas are eligible for the Business Advice Service, Flying Start, Growth Catalyst, Scale to Thrive and Access to Finance.

This feature was brought to you as part of a partnership series of stories about business in and around Preston, celebrating start-up and scale-up businesses in and around the city, in conjunction with Boost Lancashire. If you’re thinking of starting up a business or want help growing your existing business then speak to Boost Lancashire or give them a call on 08004880057 or email them to discover all the ways they can help your business ideas to grow.

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